The present invention concerns an automated cleaning device for cleaning domestic and/or industrial refuse bins.
Current bin cleaning devices are typically manually operated, and may comprise brushes, sprays or high pressure jets. These devices will be inserted into the container being cleaned, and the operator will manually control the washing process until he deems that the inner walls of the container are clean. The bins may then be left to dry, inverted or otherwise, or may be dried manually by an operator.
While the prior art methods for cleaning bins are advantageous in being adaptable for varying sizes of bins, these methods are very labour intensive, often utilize large volumes of cleaning fluid, and may not be efficient at removing residual matter on the inner walls of the bin.
Whilst some efforts have been made to provide easy and effective automation of refuse container washing, the results tend to be wasteful in terms of cleaning fluid, and are less amenable to adaptation for differently sized containers.
The present invention addresses the problems encountered in prior art devices, and provides an economical, size-adaptable, efficient and automated apparatus and method for cleaning refuse bins or other containers.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for cleaning bins comprising a support for locating a bin in a tilted orientation so that liquid can drain from the bin through its top opening, a cleaning lance mounted in cantilever fashion on the base for longitudinal movement into and out of a bin located on the support, the lance being provided at or adjacent its free end with fluid discharge means for discharge of cleaning fluid and being mounted on the base in such a way that the fluid discharge means is movable in planes substantially orthogonal to the direction of longitudinal movement of the lance, and control means operable to effect such movements of the lance.
The lance may be telescopic in order to effect said longitudinal movement into and out of the bin. Preferably however such longitudinal movement of the lance is effected by mounting the lance on a carriage which, in turn, is mounted on the base.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for cleaning bins comprising a support for locating a bin in a tilted orientation so that liquid can drain from the bin through its top opening, a base mounting a carriage for movement towards and away from the support, a cleaning lance mounted in cantilever fashion on the carriage so as to move into and out of a bin located on the support as the carriage is moved towards and away from the support, the lance being provided at or adjacent its free end with fluid discharge means for discharge of cleaning fluid and being mounted on the carriage in such a way that the fluid discharge means is movable in planes substantially orthogonal to the direction of movement of the carriage, and control means operable to effect such movements of the carriage and the fluid discharge means.
In use, the control means may be operated so that the fluid discharge means is moved towards and away from the base of the bin when the latter is supported on the support and also in said substantially orthogonal planes whereby the fluid discharge means follows a path in close proximity to internal side wall surfaces of the bin while discharging cleaning fluid at such surfaces.
The lance may be mounted for angular oscillation to afford the fluid discharge means at least one degree of freedom in said substantially orthogonal planes.
The lance may be mounted for translational movement to afford the fluid discharge means at least one degree of freedom in said substantially orthogonal planes.
In a presently preferred embodiment, the lance is mounted for angular oscillation about two substantially mutually orthogonal axes in order to afford the fluid discharge means two degrees of freedom in said substantially orthogonal planes.
The control means is conveniently adjustable to allow the extent of movement of the fluid discharge means in said substantially orthogonal planes to be varied in dependence on the cross-sectional dimensions of the bins to be cleaned.
The control means is preferably operable to move the fluid discharge means in said substantially orthogonal planes simultaneously with movement of the carriage in at least one direction relative to the support.
The support may be arranged to accommodate more than one bin at a time, in which case the apparatus is conveniently provided with more than one lance for use in the cleaning of respective bins, each lance being provided with respective fluid discharge means.
Where more than one lance is provided, preferably the apparatus comprises a single carriage for mounting the lances. However, the possibility provided separate carriages each mounting a respective lance is not excluded.
Preferably the support comprises a bin-tilting frame and a bin-lifting sub-frame.
The tilting frame may be angularly movable relative to the base about an axis generally perpendicular to the direction of movement of the carriage.
The bin-lifting sub-frame may be slidable relative to the bin-tilting frame in a direction generally perpendicular to the axis about which the tilting frame is angularly movable.
The fluid discharge means may be operable to discharge both cleaning fluid and drying fluid towards the internal surfaces of the bin in use, the arrangement conveniently being such that cleaning fluid is discharged during advance of the fluid discharge means towards the base of the bin and drying fluid is discharged during retraction of the fluid discharge means from the bin.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for cleaning bins comprising a support for locating a bin in a tilted orientation so that liquid can drain from the bin through its top opening, a cleaning lance mounted in cantilever fashion on the base for longitudinal movement into and out of a bin located on the support, the lance being provided at or adjacent its free end with fluid discharge means for discharge of cleaning fluid and drying fluid whereby following cleaning of the interior of the bin, drying of the bin can be effected using drying fluid.